Tuesday, June 28, 2011

When we left my sisters house it was raining...I'm like......June? Really? The weather has been so crazy this year! It's almost July and it was raining in California today. Hope it's good weather tomorrow. We fly back home tomorrow afternoon.

Oh ya, I was talking about Vail....... It is soooooooooo worth the trip!! Do not however get a haircut there without double checking the price!! Holy Cow!

So beautiful.... I was driving (of course cuz I'm a SPAZ BACKSEAT DRIVER and my sister doesn't like to drive in the mountains!!) but my sister was snapping photos!

The closer we got to Vail it started to look a lot more like Christmas (in June)

The kids have been holding their breath through tunnels since we have been here but this one was loooooonnnngg....... no way they could do it.... But they tried. ha ha

We came out the other side of the tunnel to it SNOWING!! It was crazy. So much fun!!

Beautiful views all the way in and WE MADE IT!!

We stayed at the Lodge at Vail and it's location was PERFECT!!! We just walked out the back door right into the village. Lot's of shops and restaurants. YES,it's so all about the food.

Our kitchen....

And another shot showing part of the living room and the kitchen. We had a real wood burning fireplace but we never used it. We had one bedroom with two twin beds and a bathroom downstairs and upstairs were two bedrooms. One with two queen size beds and a bathroom and one with a king size bed and a bathroom. Was perfect for going with kids or a group of adults. They also have two pools and a great restaurant. I've never in my life had eggs so fluffy that they actually melt in your mouth! We sat out on the patio and enjoyed the great weather.

This was our view from our balcony. It looked down on the village. It had a few chairs out there to kick back and people watch relax in.

My nephew and my son and youngest rugrat.

We had a great time! It was different going in the summer and with the rugrats this time and also during the fall the color is very beautiful here. You can go here and see my last trip there. We had a blast!! BUT Vail is fun and beautiful anytime of the year and with or without children. I'm thinking maybe Christmas??

Hunk told me I'm already planning my next vacation while I'm still on a vacation....but I LOVE to travel!!!! I'm all over the place in my head.....always searching for great places to go.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Who woulda thunk it? Yesterday he was starting Kindergarten and today graduated high school.

Thanks Hunk! I love you too. I had no idea he was doing this.......

what a shock that he would do such a thing!

This is tradition. I took a roll of toilet paper with me to my oldest sons graduation. I now have to make sure I embarrass them all equally.

I love how the score board has the graduating year on it.

My sweet baby boy accepting his diploma!

My nephew takes issue with load noises...

Someone behind us popped these confetti things it was so awesome!!

Class of 2011...... I'm so proud of you.

Big brother was very happy for his little brother... Love these two babies so much!

Three of my four Rugrats! Miss Sassy Pants Sister was off visiting with all of her friends that were there. Teenagers! LOL

My beautiful baby girl. She was so excited to pretend "she" was graduating with her big brother!

Here area couple of senior portraits my sister took on our property. It was the day after my son stayed up all night at the "Sober Graduation" party so he was very tired but we threatened him with his life talked him into taking a few photos for me.

My baby boy....hard to believe he is abandoning me like he doesn't need me anymore leaving for college soon!

Speaking of college:

This summer we spent two days at Biola University. WOW.... Loved it. But more importantly our son LOVED it. He was so excited and worried at the same time. Excited that he felt he has a good chance of being accepted there and worried that he wouldn't be.

There were several activities going on while we were there. Meetings and dinners and lunch for the parents and meetings and classes and dinners and lunches for the kids. Our son got to stay the night in a dorm with a current Biola student and had a great experience.

We were able to attend Chapel service and be surrounded my thousands of students singing out praises to the Lord. What a humbling moment. It brought tears to my eyes. We knew that if this is where our son is meant to attend college then it would happen..... I know "he" feels it is the University he belongs at. In fact I think he would have been thrilled to have moved right in and started school on our visit.

What does this mean for us? Another son moving out of the house.....

Biola is about 4 to 4.5 hours away from us so it is close enough to be able to visit and I already found a nice little hotel about 2 miles away that has a mini kitchen living room and bedroom set up.... Hunk already told our son "This will be your mom's new home away from home, when you attend Biola"..... I'm certain he is correct!

Being so busy with helping him with college forms and applications and tours and testing schedules was starting to make my head spin. Not only because of all that needs to be done but because of the emotional side of it.

Letting go isn't the easiest thing for a Momma to do. On one hand I am so proud of him and can't wait to see what he does in this big ol' world. I know he will do great things. He has so much ambition and drive...... BUT on the other hand I still see him as my little boy running around the backyard with snot running down both nostrils and some sort of food in each fist. I guess that will always be the case.

It also made me realize that I will only have two rugrats left at home AND both of those rugrats will be in junior high. I know in the blink of an eye we will be preparing to send them off for college and then it will just be Hunk and I left at home........and probably some grandrats running around by then! =)

Hold your babies close, let those little moments, like snot and double fisted eating, get burned into your memories...........before you know it they will graduate and head off to college or off to work and a wife... It truly feels like it all happened in a blink of an eye.

Hunk..........You We are gettin' old buddy...Our Rugrats are growing up.

Maybe it's time to have some more Rugrats. Maybe that would ease the pain I have in my heart. Fill it with the sleepless nights, thousands of diaper changes love that comes with having a new baby in the house.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

The day after my sons wedding my girls flew back with my sister, her hubby and son to Colorado. They went up to Mount Evans. My oldest daughter (thinking it's summer time and being a California girl) only brought shorts... And did I mention she has no fat on her tiny body...........If she wasn't 13 and my daughter I may not like her for that....NOT JUST KIDDING.....

Because of her lack of body fat and lack of proper clothing AND elevation level her lips were BLUE.

My sister, my girls, my nephew and my brother in-law.

Isn't it beautiful!!??!

I LOVE waterfalls!

Fast forward to the next day and back down to Denver elevation and the weather was a bit nicer so my brother in-law and sister set up the slip-n-slide for the kids.

Then they played ball with their cousin and uncle.

Then I arrived party over kids and the party began. HA HA.. Hunk was with me and we hug around for a few days and he had to get his butt back to work. So we took him to the airport and peeled out of there as quickly as possible we drove home talking about how I would miss him and picked up the kids and headed up the hill to Vail.

Here we are in Vail..... LOVE GOING HERE... was a little different than our trip with just the two of us last time but we had a great time.

Great thing about having a sister who is a professional photographer is that you get great photos, bad thing is she is usually not in them (unless she sets the timer)..

After all the stress that has been going on with graduation, college applications, wedding planning, becoming a mother in law and soon to only have two rugrats left at home this wasn't Maui for a month is a great vacation.

Still determined to find and keep my Aloha......even if it is in Colorado!

Graduation photos are almost done being edited (my sister has been slammed with her own photography business work and/or vacationing with me so she is being SLOW)..

Yes, Tami, I called you slow......Do you still love me? ;-)

So what are your summer 2011 plans?? My next one is camping. I can't wait to be filthy and bathe and wash dishes in lake water!!